Can I Get an O-Tsukaresama?

There are some things about Japan that I miss so much, it makes me want to cry. Take for instance, the sayings, "O-tsukareama" or "gokorosama". These two sayings are what all Japanese people say whenever you have done ANYTHING. It basically means, "You've worked so hard and have every right to be tired". They say it when you've finished making a worksheet. They say it when you've finished a frame of bowling. They say it when you've stood up out of your chair without falling.

At first I loved it. Then, it started to annoy me. And at the very end, I started to love it again. This is because I started thinking, "Why yes, I did work hard and I am very tired. Thank you for noticing", even if I hadn't done a single thing. Even funnier than that was that about six months after my arrival in Japan, it became a regular part of my vocabulary. So regular, in fact, that I once said it to a woman coming out of the bathroom.

In any case, I was missing it the other day because I went to the gym. While I am trying to get back to my regular gym rat schedule, it has yet to happen. What that means is that every time I go to the gym, it's like the first time. And what does that mean? IT'S HARD.

I get on the elliptical trainer and go to town while also trying to watch and hear American Idol without hitting the woman beside me who is ALWAYS talking on her cell phone. And I don't mean talking, I mean TALKING. I also check out everyone in the gym, which in and of itself is a hilarious study in human nature (most especially the men who walk around looking at their muscles while trying to pretend that they're not).

Just a as a side note here, I believe that there should be mandatory pieces of clothing that ALL people at the gym should have to wear...for women, a good sports bra. This is especially if you have a larger chest or are over the age of 35 and there is a danger of your stuff falling out the bottom of your shirt. For men, some kind of jock strap or stretchy pants....for obvious reasons.

Anyway, back to what I was saying...I work out until sweat drips off my body (which for me is about 3 seconds), I stretch, and I go home to have a bowl of ice cream (a mandatory part of the work out and also probably the reason why I never lose weight).

On the way out of the gym, I want people to RECOGNIZE that I've worked hard. Forget all of this humility and stuff. Do you think that I looked this gross BEFORE I stared working out? This dripping wet hair and flushed face is obviously the product of a REAL workout.

Come on, people! Can't I at least get an "O-tsukaresama"?? No? A "gokorosama"?? ANYTHING??